Commercial ministry programmed to boost import

An exhibition centre of imported goods, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />China’s first built service platform to promote import business, has been opened at Shanghai and will come into use next year in the first quarter. The case suggests the great shift toward the field of importation from usual trade mode of singly advocating export products, said an official with China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchange.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

An expert with the Ministry of Commerce says it has been in many ways to make policies for backing up importation, including eliminating import quotas, followed by successive moves like holding import forum, or dispatching purchasing groups, to stimulate import business.

The exhibition centre for imported goods has been highly appreciated by foreign officials, saying they are quite optimistic in the move which would give great help to EU products quickly coming into China mainland, and would offsetting trade surplus  around 100.0 billion euro held in China, thus finally keeping the trade balance.

Explaining why Shanghai to be pointed the exhibition centre, a Shanghai governmental deputy secretary says it is due to the position of Shanghai in overall foreign trade condition, for almost a quarter of total import volume in flowed from Shanghai port, that is, reaching the figure of 177.18 billion dollars, almost 27.3 percent for the nation’s total import amount.

In recent years, the foreign trade sectors at all levels have made great effort in deduction of trade surplus and to promote importation, for example, to reduce further tariffs for imported goods to the level of 9.8 percent in 2010. Moreover, import licenses have been abandoned for some machinery and electronic products.

Aiming at importation from usual trade mode will be helpful to big country influence like China, as some of the ASEAN members say China has given great help to these countries in facing financial crisis when added import in the areas in 2008.  An official indicates it ought to be firmly in pursuit of the policy of import adherence, which will be of great importance in china’s restructuring and to sustainable growth in environment protection.